Of all quotes legendary salesman, marketer, and motivational speaker Zig

Ziglar — who passed away recently — made about the ways people can succeed
in their lives, one stands out: “If you can dream it, you can achieve it.” (see  Zig
Ziglar: 10 Quotes That Can Change Your Life).

While all people are capable of dreaming, they may not dream the right thing.
And even if they do, they may not pursue it the right way. That’s why they
don’t turn dreams into reality.

Nowhere this is more evident than marketing, where marketers are usually
dreaming of selling products that fail to meet consumer demand, or products
that aren’t innovative enough to beat the competition.

Or they do have the right products, but fail to develop and spread the right
message to hype consumer imagination.

Microsoft’s Windows 8 campaign, for instance, has so far failed to turn dreams
into reality—though it is too early to reach a definite conclusion and determine
what the source of the problem is.

Here are seven things that make the difference between marketing dreams
and marketing reality:

1. The “Offer”
The product, the service, or the “bundle” to be offered must satisfy genuine
consumer needs.  Apple’s products, for instance, fill the consumer need for
mobile communications, computing, music, and distinction. Nike offers
consumers top quality shoes, apparel, and accessories. Starbucks offers
consumers a “third place” away from home, where they can enjoy a cup of
coffee and socialize. Red Bull offers drinks that give consumers fast energy.
2. The Innovation

The “offer” must be innovative, to seduce consumer fantasy and imagination

by delivering better value than conventional products, and by addressing
emerging trends. Every single Apple product, for instance, offers a unique
value to consumers, as it incorporates a number of distinct advantages over
competitive products—simplicity, functionality, access to complementary
products, etc.

3. The Choice of the Target Group

Some consumer groups are more receptive to innovative products than others
and should be the early targets of the marketing campaign.  Apple’s products
usually target the two groups that are most sensitive to marketing campaigns
— ”pioneers” ie the young, restless and curious consumers enchanted with the
new and the exotic; and the “early adopters,” consumers who are always on
the lookout for products that will improve their personal and business lives.
The early adopters is a larger group than the pioneers, and the bridge to reach
to an even larger group — the “early majority.”

4. The Message

The marketing campaign should have a message that conveys the product
attributes to the target groups by being appealing, clear, credible, transparent,
direct, and adhesive — using characters and stories familiar to consumers.

Message attributes should be adjusted to help consumers memorize and recall

the message the moment they make purchase decisions.  Adjust the message
theme to appeal to different target groups, using the appropriate media.

5. The social context

Marketing campaigns are sensitive to the context, the “conditions and
circumstances,” the place and time the message is launched. The context is
like a magnifying glass that allows consumers to see and imagine things they
couldn’t see and imagine before.

A message launched in a cosmopolitan city, in front of a landmark structure is

more effective than a message launched in the middle of nowhere. Likewise, a
message launched in the aftermath of a major event that has captured broad
attention is more effective than a message launched at a usual time.

6.  The Spread of the message

Enlist into your campaign “agents of influence,” i.e. consumers who are more
effective in influencing others, and therefore spread the product message, tell
their neighbors, their friends, their co-workers or fellow club-
members. Target, support and reinforce your campaign with viral marketing.

7. The Hype

Add emotion and hype to the campaign, to speed up the spread and the
diffusion of the message to a critical mass of consumers.  Stir up interest and
desire in the product to fuel hype and contagion.  Turn hype and contagion to
a herd-like consumer behavior that helps products cross the “chasms,”
especially the chasm between early adopters and early majority.

The bottom line: Marketing dreams that eventually become reality begin in
the marketplace, not in the ivory towers of corporate headquarters. They are
about unique and innovative product offering, and are achieved by launching a
message targeting the right consumer group in the right context — and
enlisting a legion of “agents of influence” to spread and diffuse the message to
consumer masses.